She has not played competitively since Melbourne, raising questions over whether the 23-time Slam winner would attempt to defend her title next month and equal Australian Margaret Court's singles record of 24 major titles.

But tournament director Craig Tiley is optimistic Williams will return for a crack at her seventh Melbourne Park crown after marrying Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian last month.

Serena married Alexis Ohanian (R) in November

Tiley declared that Williams's return to tennis in Melbourne was "very likely".

"She's got her visa, she's entered, she's practising and she's probably just got to find a bit more space for a bigger entourage," he told Melbourne's Herald Sun.

"There's no question that she'll be ready in our view and she wants to break a record that is Margaret Court's. It would be a pretty significant accomplishment for her to be able to do that."